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Cano named AL Player of the Week

Press Release |

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending July 1st. This is Robinson’s sixth career weekly honor and his first since August 22, 2010. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Cano, who on Sunday was elected as a starter at second base for the A.L. in the Midsummer Classic on July 10th in Kansas City, batted .414 (12-for-29) with two doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI and five runs scored in seven games. Among A.L. leaders, the 29-year-old finished first in homers, total bases (26) and slugging percentage (.897), tied for first in RBI and tied for second in hits.

On Monday against the Cleveland Indians, Cano went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer and three RBI to lead the Yankees past the Tribe, 7-1, in the Bronx. Cano’s long ball was his sixth in his last eight games, and it came on the front end of back-to-back shots as Nick Swisher followed with his 12th of the season to back starter Hiroki Kuroda in the win. In the series finale on Wednesday, Cano launched a two-run blast and scored a pair of runs as the Yankees edged the Indians, 5-4, for their fifth straight win and their first three-game sweep of an A.L. club since sweeping the Oakland Athletics from May 25th-27th. On Saturday, Cano went 2-for-4, including a solo homer off Chicago White Sox starter and 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote sponsored by Firestone candidate Jake Peavy as New York shut out Chicago, 4-0, at Yankee Stadium. The Dominican Republic native went on an offensive tear in June, launching 11 home runs during the month of June, the most in his career for any calendar month (Elias Sports Bureau). Against the White Sox on Sunday, Cano blasted his 20th homer of the season, which was his ninth in the last 14 games, as the Yankees doubled up the White Sox, 4-2, to earn a series split between the two first-place teams. The left-handed-hitting Cano reached the 20-homer plateau for the fourth straight season, joining Joe Gordon (1938-41) as the only Yankees second basemen to accomplish the feat. He is tied with Alfonso Soriano, Bret Boone and Lou Whitaker for the second-most career 20-homer seasons as an A.L. second baseman, trailing only Gordon (seven). Heading into play today, Cano is second in the A.L. in total bases (179) and extra-base hits (44), fourth in runs (55) and slugging percentage (.591), tied for fourth in hits (94), tied for sixth in doubles (23), tied for seventh in homers and is ninth in batting average (.310).